East Carolina sophomore Jessica
Johnson and freshman Toni Paisley were named to the 2007 North Carolina
Collegiate Sports Information Association (NCCSIA) University Division
All-State softball team released Tuesday.
The fourth-annual team consists
of 11 student-athletes, representing eight different schools from North
Carolina colleges and universities.
North Carolina sports
information professionals submitted the nominees. The all-state team
consists of two pitchers, one catcher, four infielders, three
outfielders and a designated player.
One of three all-state rookies,
Paisley won second-team All-Conference USA recognition and was named the
league's freshman of the year. She threw a perfect game against
Binghamton and no-hit UNC Greensboro. The Lakewood, CA, resident posted
a 21-5 record with 20 complete games, 10 shutouts, 211 strikeouts. She
had the Pirates' third-highest winning percentage (.808) and the
fourth-highest strikeout total in school history.
Johnson earned first-team
all-conference honors as she paced the Pirates with a .357 batting
average, 17 home runs, 53 RBI and 314 putouts. Her 17 homers rank as the
second highest single-season total in school history. She placed second
on the team with 168 at bats, 60 hits, 22 walks and a .732 slugging
percentage. Johnson finished among the Conference USA leaders in home
runs (1st), slugging percentage (2nd), RBI's (2nd) and batting average
(5th). She was also named to the league's all-academic and
all-tournament teams.
Panel will study academic performance in hoops
The NCAA on Tuesday introduced a
27-member panel, including seven coaches, to be charged with developing
strategies to enhance academic performance and graduation rates in
Division I men's basketball, according to a USA Today report by Jack
Carey.
The panel will be chaired by
UCLA athletics director Dan Guerrero.
When the NCAA's Academic
Progress Rate (APR) data was released this month, men's basketball
dipped for a second year in a row and was last among 29 men's and
women's sports with at least 30 teams competing in Division I.
The APR measures teams' success
in keeping scholarship athletes in school, keeping them eligible and
graduating them. The NCAA has set a benchmark score of 925 and says that
projects to about a 60% graduation rate. However, almost 44% of the 326
Division I men's hoops teams posted three-year APR averages lower than
that and could be subject to penalties, including a reduction in
scholarships, if improvement is not made.
Coaches on the panel include Jim
Boeheim (Syracuse), Paul Hewitt (Georgia Tech), Bo Ryan (Wisconsin),
Herb Sendek (Arizona State), Phil Martelli (Saint Joseph's), Cy
Alexander (Tennessee State) and Ron Hunter (IUPUI).
Five
from C-USA named academic All-America
Five baseball players from
Conference USA have been named to the 2007 ESPN The Magazine Academic
All-America team. For the second straight year, two student-athletes
have earned first team recognition for their classroom work from
Southern Miss — senior reliever Patrick Ezell and senior first baseman
Trey Sutton.
Rice pitcher Ryne Tacker, the
2007 Conference USA pitcher of the year, is joined by Houston first
baseman Josh Stirneman on the second team.
Rice junior shortstop Brian
Friday was named as a third team Academic All-American.
May 30, 2007
13-year drought ends
for Memphis baseball
Thirteen years to the day after
its last NCAA regional victory in 1994, the 2007 Memphis Tiger baseball
team ended the postseason drought when it was selected as the No. 3 seed
in the Nashville regional.
Memphis received an at-large bid
after finishing the Conference USA Tournament with a 36-25 mark. The
Tigers will take on No. 2 Michigan in the opening contest at 2 p.m. on
Friday.
No. 1 national seed Vanderbilt
will host the regional. The Commodores will face Austin Peay, which
earned the No. 4 regional seed.
LSU
mascot, Mike V, led inspirational life
The reign of Mike V, LSU’s
beloved mascot, has come to an end with the tiger's recent death.
Mike V was an official
representative of the Bengal Tigers for one of the most glorious periods
in LSU athletic history. The mascot served as a focal point for LSU
teams from 1990 until his death Friday.
The royal Bengal tiger was born
on Oct. 18, 1989, and first moved into his home across from Tiger
Stadium on April 30, 1990.
Mike actually attended his first
sporting event on Feb. 21, 1990, when he was introduced to a roaring
crowd at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center for a men’s basketball game.
The Tigers beat Alabama that day, 75-69, in Shaquille O’Neal’s freshman
year.
Jayhawks ace facing comeback from surgery
Kansas basketball head coach
Bill Self announced Tuesday that guard Brandon Rush has torn the
anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
"The MRI report from last Friday
confirms that Brandon did tear his ACL," Self said. "We did not announce
the nature of the injury last week per Brandon's request. Friday was an
emotional day for Brandon as he had worked very hard in preparation for
the NBA pre-draft camp. By law we cannot comment on an injury without a
player's consent.
"Brandon is in good spirits and
is presently rehabbing as he prepares for surgery this week or early
next week."
Rush is a two-time All-Big 12
first team selection. He has led the Jayhawks in scoring each of his
first two seasons, including 13.8 points per game this past season.
May 29, 2007
C-USA sends four
to NCAA baseball regionals
Conference USA received four
bids to the 2007 NCAA baseball tournament on Monday.
Rice will host the Houston
regional as the No. 2 national seed, while East Carolina will be the No.
2 seed in Chapel Hill, Southern Miss will be the No. 2 seed in Oxford,
MS, and Memphis will travel up the road to Nashville, TN, where it will
compete as the No. 3 seed.
Only the ACC (7), Big 12 (6) and
SEC (5) had more selections than Conference USA.
Duke falls to Johns Hopkins in lacrosse final
Johns Hopkins won its ninth NCAA
men's lacrosse title on Monday, withstanding a Duke comeback for a 12-11
victory in Baltimore.
The Blue Jays never trailed but
the Blue Devils overcame a six-goal halftime deficit to pull even at
11-11 when Max Quinzani scored with 4:37 left.
Hopkins' Kevin Huntley followed
with his third goal of the game with 3:25 to go, which proved decisive
despite late pressure by Duke (17-3), the nation's top-ranked team and
No. 1 seed for the tournament.
Kansas
star decides no Rush on NBA draft
Kansas basketball standout
Brandon Rush has withdrawn his name from NBA draft consideration.
Rush, who completed his
sophomore year at KU this spring, submitted his name to the NBA to be
eligible for this year's draft.
A two-time All-Big 12 first-team
selection, Rush has led the Jayhawks in scoring each of his first two
seasons, including 13.8 points as a sophomore. He was second on the team
in rebounding average at 5.6. He also hit a team-best 50 three-pointers
in the 2006-07 season.
May 28, 2007
ECU duo set for NCAA
hammer championships
East Carolina's Chelsea
Salisbury advanced to the NCAA track and field championships after
finishing fourth in the hammer throw with a mark of 57.83 meters at the
2007 NCAA East regionals in Gainesville, FL.
Salisbury joins Terrance Myers,
who qualified with a hammer throw of 62.87 meters in the first day of
the regional competition. The duo will travel to Sacramento, CA, to
compete in the NCAA championships June 6-9.
Duke, Johns
Hopkins vie for NCAA lacrosse title
The top-seeded and second-ranked
Duke lacrosse team will play third-seeded and fourth-ranked Johns
Hopkins in the NCAA championship game this afternoon at M&T Bank Stadium
in Baltimore. Face-off is set for 1 p.m. The game will be televised live
on ESPN.
Former Villanova star dies week after beating
Howard Porter, one of the best
basketball players in Villanova history, died after he was found
severely beaten in an alley more than a week ago, according to a
Star-Tribune report. He was 58.
Porter died Saturday night,
Minneapolis Police Lt. Kim Lund said Sunday. Police were awaiting a
report from the medical examiner to determine the cause of death.
Porter worked as a probation
officer for Ramsey County. Police said it was unclear whether the
beating was connected to his job. Lund said there have been no arrests
and the investigation is continuing.
